Hige's Gift
by GoWaitInTheCar
Summary: A one-shot fic look into Hige's past and what he left behind. Some people write Toboe and Kiba fanfictions. I write Hige fics. Tell me what you think. Tear jerker.


_Author's Note: This is a one-shot fic about Hige's past. Eh, I haven't watched Wolf's Rain long enough to know how Hige's character is but I'm gonna do my best. I wrote this during school from a dream I had (weird one too. Something to do with Wolf's Rain and the movie Reservoir Dogs). _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Wolf's Rain or any of the characters but Nora and Cio (duh). _

* * *

**Hige's Gift**

"We can stop in Bevia. I know someone there" Hige called out to the others. The four wolves were exhausted and dehydrated from running all day and night. Bevia city was just a few more miles ahead. It had been nearly a year and half since he had been there. Since he had last seen her..

_-FLASHBACK-_

"Are you ok, Nora?" Hige's hands were rested behind his head, looking at the girl in front of him with one eye open. Nora didn't answer. She kept her gaze downward at the ground. She sat on the front steps of their home. He tried again but still no reply. Hige sat next to her and waved his hand in front of her face, trying to draw her attention to him. _'Why does he have to leave? Why now? God, why now?'_ She snapped out of her dream like gaze "Huh? Oh. I'm sorry". Hige grinned. "Why must you go?" she began to finger the hem of her dress, not willing to look at him. Hige looked down the street before answering her. "I dunno. I just feel like I must go there for some reason" Hige noticed her sadness. He didn't mean to leave her like this but it'd be safer if she stayed here at home. Hige looked at her more closely, as if looking for a cheerful girl under the saddened face. "It'll only be for a few weeks and I'll come home.. Nora?" Nora looked up at Hige with a wide smile, "Ok. If that's what you want. I 'll wait for you" "You're.. okay with it?" Hige hesitated. Nora nodded, "Mhm". Hige stood up in his first position. "Ok then.. Bye Nora" he started down the street towards the city's exit towards his destination. Nora's smile faded as Hige's figure became a distant dot. Tears formed in her green eyes, running down her cheek. _'He still doesn't know..'_

_-END FLASHBACK-_

Something inside him always told him to go back to Nora, she needed him but whatever he was looking for was still unfound. He said he's come back in a few weeks but ended up staying for months. _'Nora…'_

She felt him. That comforting closeness she hadn't felt in months. "Hige.." Nora sat up from her bed. She glanced around at the darkened room. No sign of him. She slowly got out of bed and walked over to the window. The wind blew steadily. Her brown hair flowed behind her. A small muffle of a cry came from the room next to hers. She entered quietly. A large soft pillow lay in the center of the floor. She walked over to it, kneeling down to the small wolf pup lay there on it's side. A small smile graced her pink lips. "Cio.. daddy is finally coming home.." she stroked the pup's soft fur, Cio closed his eyes at his mother's touch.

Dawn was coming. They still had a few more miles to go. Hige was sure they'd make it before sunrise, before any one woke up to see a pack of wolves enter the city.

Sure enough, in the distant was Bevia City. They reached the city just as the sun came up. Changing into their human forms so not to be seen as wolves. Toboe's breathing was harsh, his face red. Tsume could have sworn Toboe was panting, even as a human. Tsume and Kiba lagged behind Hige. Their legs sore from running. The city hadn't changed much since he left. He stopped at the front steps of what was once his home. In some cases, still is. "Do you know who lives here, Hige?" Toboe asked, collecting his breath. Hige nodded. Before he could knock, the door opened. It took him a minute to realize who stood before him. The city hadn't changed but she certainly did. "Nora.." was all he could say before she threw herself in his arms. They hugged tightly. She embraced his presence like a long lost lover. "I told you I'd come back to you" he whispered in her ear. Nora smiled as she pulled away. Tears glistened in her eyes. It had been so long since he left. She could recall countless nights she stood up, waiting for him to walk that same street he left on. Gotten her hopes up too many times. Her eyes moved from Hige to the three behind him. Flashes came to her, the three men that stood there were wolves that took their place. "Are they..?" she nodded towards them, looking at Hige. He nodded. "This is Kiba, Toboe and that stoic guy is Tsume" Hige smiled to himself. Tsume giving him a dirty look. "Guys, this is Nora" she smiled at them. _'Is this what he left for?'_

She welcomed Hige's friends into their home. They looked exhausted so she got extra blankets and pillows from the closet for them to sleep. She made them breakfast. To Kiba's surprise, it was actually good compared to the other human food he previously had. Nora would occasionally glance over at Hige as they ate. A smile concealed her love for him. After breakfast, the wolves fell right into sleep on the old couches in her living room. While they slept, Nora stood in Cio's room. Quietly singing him to sleep so the wolves sensitive ears outside the walls wouldn't hear. Cio was brown pup like Hige. His coat was much darker than Hige's though. Footsteps in the hall made Cio's ears to perk up. Kiba suddenly walked in, "Oh, I'm sorry. I was looking for the rest.. room" he took notice of Cio.

"A pup. Is that.. Hige's?"

"Yes. It's his"

"Hige never told me he was a father.."

"Hige doesn't know he is.."

Nora's back was toward Kiba. She watched him out of the corner of her eye. "Oh.." "Please, Kiba. Don't tell him" She slightly turned her head toward him. His back was against the door. "Please.." her voice sounded so full of sadness, like she was about to cry. "I won't.." he whispered, barely audible to Nora's ears. Cio started to whimper in his sleep. Nora rubbed his belly, making a soothing sound to comfort the pup in his nightmare. "I'll leave you be" Kiba turned to leave. "Kiba.." "Yes?" he turned back to look at her. "..Thank you.". Kiba nodded and quietly shut the door behind him.

Nora had prepared dinner for the hungry wolves. Toboe helped her around the kitchen. Happily doing whatever he could to assist her. He felt an obligation to help her since she had been so nice to him. _'She's really pretty'_ Toboe blushed as she smiled at him as he set the table. "I think she's already taken, Toboe" Tsume's voice came from the doorway he was leaning against. His arms folded across his chest. Toboe's blush turned a bright red. Nora giggled at the young wolf. Hige appeared from their old room, rubbing his eyes from the sleep he woken from. Kiba stood against the wall, his hands in his coat pockets. _'He's not even aware he had a child with her..'._ They ate well. Her cooking again surprised Kiba's taste buds. Certainly wasn't fresh wild deer or such, but it was better than "hot dogs".

The sun had set. The stars and moon shined brightly upon the city's sky line. The moon light reflected off the buildings and roof tops. Nora sat outside on the roof of her home. Her guest once again found peace in their sleep. Hige came up and sat next to her. Silence started their conversation. "Why'd it take you so long to come back?" her voice was soft. It tickled his senses like it once did so many months ago. "I.. don't know. I felt like I had something to do there" he laid back against the roof, his hands under his head. Nora nodded slowly, accepting his answer. She folded her skirt under her legs, hugging them as she rested her head against them. She stared at him. Her eyes felt heavy with sleep. Memories of how they used to come up on the roof late at night and look at the stars filled her head. _'So much has changed and you don't even know it'_. She would have to tell him. And tell him soon. She often wondered if she had told him before, he wouldn't have left for whatever he was looking for. He would have stayed with her when she needed him the most. Especially raising a pup. Not a normal child like all mothers around her had. "Are you leaving again?" she knew the answer. She just wanted to hear it from him. "Yeah. But we could stay. The guys love you already" he smiled at her, one eye closed. She smiled back. _'Do you love me, Hige? Love me so much you'll forgive me for what I'm about to tell you? Will you love us both, Hige? Will you?'_

"Hige?"

"Yeah?"

…

"What is it, Nora?" he sat up. "I could tell you. But I'd rather show you.." "..Show me what?" he asked curiously. Nora stood, climbing down the ladder from the roof to the back yard. Hige followed her into the house, to the door he didn't bother to enter since he'd been back. She let him in, closing it quietly behind her. She took him by the hand and led him to the pillow Cio was sleeping on. Hige looked down at his pup and back at Nora. She looked away, tears glistened in the moonlight that came threw the window. Silence again spoke for them.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before.."

"Why didn't you?"

"I don't know. I guess I was afraid.."

"How long did you know?"

"A week before you left.."

"What's his name?"

"Cio.."

Hige repeated his son's name under his breath. Hige let go of her hand, rubbing his face. His eyes as if trying to wake up from a dream. After realizing this was reality, Hige exited, closing the door hard behind him. Nora wiped her cheeks from the tears. She kneeled down next to Cio, kissing his nose. She went to her room. She felt so tired. And now Hige was angry with her. She would have went after him but suppose this was a time to leave him to himself. She could hear him on the roof. He was directly above her bed where she lay. "I love you.." with that she cried herself to sleep.

Nora woke. His presence no longer felt near. She looked in the living room. Blankets were folded neatly. Pillows stacked next to them. She heard Cio's cry from his room. She entered quietly to not wake him. She looked upon Cio with loving eyes. Her eyes hardened when she saw what lay next to him. Hige's collar and a note..

_ "Im sorry" _


End file.
